Toyo Tire will pay $120 million U.S. cartel fine

WASHINGTON – Toyo Tire & Rubber Co. has agreed to plead guilty and pay a $120 million fine for its role in price-fixing of automobile parts in the United States, the U.S. Justice Department said Tuesday.

The company repeatedly rigged bids for anti-vibration rubber parts for automobiles it sold to Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., which manufactures Subaru vehicles, from 1996 to 2012, the Justice Department said.

It also said Toyo Tire & Rubber was involved in a similar cartel in connection with another automotive component sold to U.S. subsidiaries of GKN PLC, a British automotive parts supplier, from 2006 to 2010.

“We have decided to accept a plea agreement (with the department) after examining factors including the facts which were learned through the probe,” Toyo Tire & Rubber said.